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Gmoa
General information Phonology 'Consonants' "R" is rolled word initial, tapped word central and final. "N" becomes velar when followed by a velar consonant. "P" becomes an affricate word final (very uncommon, but it happens). Not shown in the chart is "w" which is equivalent to the English "w". Vowels An asterisk indicates a short sound. Vowels are long if they are stressed or are in open syllables. Vowels are short in closed unstressed syllables. Diphthongs are pronounced as they appear, unless it is comprised of the same vowel twice in a row. The only vowel pairs that cannot be diphthongs are "ie", "uo" and "ou", and all vowel pairs must be diphthongs (therefore, any of the aforementioned vowel pairs cannot exist). When a vowel appears twice in a row, they create unique sounds: aa - like "a", but begins with a more rounded sound (technically speaking, the open back rounded vowel). ee - pronounced as "ye". oo - Pronounced as the English long "o" sound. "Uu" and "ii" don't exist in Gmoa. An important note on the "O": In English, a long "o" starts off in the close-mid position, but gradually turns into a more closed vowel by the end. You can see this if you try to say "oh" slowly. In Gmoa, the "o" (pronounced the same long and short besides a difference in duration) never does this; it stays in the close-mid position for the entire duration of the sound. 'Alphabet' The full alphabet shown in order is: Aa, Bb, Dd, Ee, Ff, Gg, Ii, Jj, Kk, Mm, Nn, Oo, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Xx, Cc, Yy, Zz 'Phonotactics' There aren't any formal limitations on Gmoan phonotactics. Theoretically, any syllable you can imagine can exist - if the term "syllable" can't even be safely used to describe some of the letter clusters used in Gmoa. Grammar 'Nouns' Nouns are very simple grammatically speaking. They don't decline - word order and prepositions show purpose and a verbal particle shows number in subjects and objects - the only way to show the number of the indirect objects, owners, etc. besides context is to add a number or a word such as "many, several". The most difficult aspect of nouns is that most of them have two forms: informal and "formal". Often times, the informal is the shorter form of the two (besides a few exceptions). It's used to talk about objects/activities that you enjoy, and close friends and family. The "formal" is used to talk about people you should show respect to (stranger, boss, etc.) The reason I put it in quotation marks is because of its use with non-sentient nouns; then it describes an object/activity you don't like. This can be sketchy, because it can (rarely) be used to describe people you don't like if said with the wrong tone, so you could seriously offend someone, and even be excluded form certain transactions/relationships (i.e. get fired), if you say it with a bad attitude. Also, if you use the formal to describe a friend, it could be considered hurtful, implying that you guys aren't as close as they thought. So long as your careful in how you speak to others, though, you'll be fine. Some examples of nouns: *Jmi->Jamiat - walk, stroll, jog *Gto->Gestor - vehicle (doesn't have to have an engine, e.x. horse-and-buggy) *Arten->As - fruit *Ex->Xiat - vegetable *Mo->Map - sound *Plis->Polisarna - Police officer (Arna - person*) *Aliot->Arosarna - Firefighter (A->Aros - fire) *Maa->Maartnigta - Politician (Maa->Maart - politics; Nigta->Nwatnde - scholar)^ *Arna is an example of a word without the formal/informal distinction. ^Notice how formal compounds may not consist fully of formal words. It can consist of both formal and informal nouns. This doesn't happen with informal compound words, however (i.e. they can only contain informal nouns). 'Pronouns' These also have no plural. Read on the verbal particle for more on this. First person is "e", second "aru", third "to". 'Adjectives' They always come before their noun, even in sentences such as "He is pompous." (Explained with "Oe" in the verb section). Verbs The most complicated part of speech is the verb. It is conjugated for tense and mood, prefixed to indicate questions, exclamations and unconjugated verbs, and takes a particle which gives the subject and object of a sentence number. Also - just a side note - regular verbs must always begin with a consonant. This might mean adding an arbitrary consonant word initial when deriving a verb from some other part of speech (e.x. Esi->Elten - food->->Zesi - eat). Verbs are always formed from the informal when derived from nouns. Tense and Mood There are three tenses and three moods in Gmoa shown through a suffix. A complete chart: *If the final vowel of a verb is "i" or "e", then the vowel changes to "o" and "a" respectively. Otherwise, a verb gets a "-(o)y" ending. This chart applies to all regular verbs. Prefixes All verbs receive prefixes to indicate questions and exclamations (often accompanied by a change in tone). A question receives a "ge-" prefix, unless it's rhetorical - then it gets a "ye-" prefix. If the speaker is surprised, they can prefix it with "sa-". Also, any verb left in the infinitive form gets a "pagi-" prefix. Ex. *To gejminen ya? - Will he be running? *Aru yegas es e? - Do you doubt me? *Areel sarete* ya pagizesna! - Ariel wants to abstain from talking! (This may be surprising if the person in question is loquacious.) *Verbs such as "rete (to want)" and "er (would. . . if)" can only take the subjunctive, since they can only describe a hypothetical scenario which may or may not come true. * The Particle In Gmoa, there are no number declensions. There is, however, a set of particles placed after the verb (only one at any given time) that indicates number for the subject and object of a sentence. A chart for the subject only particles: If there is an object, a suffix is added to the stem. No suffix if the object is singular. If the object is plural, "-ti" indicates a third-person object, "-i" second-person, and "-ye" first-person. These guidelines apply unless both subject and object are third person plurals, in which case we use the particle "agi." One of these particles must be present any time a verb is present in a sentence (unless the verb is oe). Irregular Verbs Note: Verbs along the lines of "isko" never appear in the infinitive except for isolated translations. Oe Oe is highly irregular, in that it is hardly a verb at all. It only inflects for tense and takes no particle. Even stranger than that, it just outright disobeys word order (which should go SVO) by going OSV (O in this case may also refer to an adjective). As a matter of fact, the only reason I call it a verb is becase I don't have a better name for it. Future tense is "os" and past is "oen." Syntax Vocabulary Example text Category:Languages